Cable guide



W. R. BECK CABLE GUIDE 2 SheetsSheet l l. JNVVENTOR. ma M BY A ma?Arron/SY Aug. 7, 1951 Filed Sept. 18, 1947 W. R. BECK Aug. 7, 1951 CABLEGUIDE /flfromvfy 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed sept. 18. 1947 Patented Aug. 7,1951 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE CABLE GUIDE William R. Beck, Chicago,Ill., assignor to Good` man Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Ill., acorporation of Illinois Application September 18, 1947, Serial No.774,782

8 Claims. (Cl. 242--91) This invention relates to an improved cableguide particularly .adapted to guide an electric cable for supplyingelectric power to a moving vehicle such as a shuttle car, operable inmines.

Heretofore shuttle cars used for transporting coal from the workingplace of a mine to a loading station .at the entry, have been propelledby y electric motors which derive their power through an electric cableconnected to a source of power such as a junction box and wound on orpayed o of a cable reel mounted on the shuttle car.. 1

This reel is usually driven by an electric motor during the windingoperation, and the motor is driven by the reel during unwinding andmaintains tension on the cable during unwinding and stalling of thevehicle. In order that the cable may not be unduly iong, the junctionbox to Iwhich its free end is connected, is frequently placed midwaybetween the working face and the discharge station. With thisarrangement, the cable is wound on its cable reel during one half of itsjourney and is payed off this reel during the other half of its journey,being trained from one end of the shuttle car during half of its journeyand from the other end of the shuttle car during the remainder of itsjourney. This has increased the diiculty in training the cable so itwill properly be payed ofi from and drawn into the car with theresultant increase in the liability of the car fouling or running overthe cable and the resultant breakage of the cable.

The principal object of my invention is to remedy the diflicultiesencountered in guiding the cable from a shuttle car by providing a noveland improved form of cable guide particularly adapted to hold the cableto conform to the path of travel of the car as the car moves towards andaway from its source of power and prevent it from becoming caught onobstructions in the mine or from being fouled or run over by the shuttlecar.

This and other objects of my invention will appear from time to time asthe following speciiication proceeds and with reference to the ac-Figure 6 is a sectional View taken substantialltr along line 6 6 ofFigure 3.

Referring now to the drawings, a shuttle car IU is shown as having acable guide constructed in accordance with my invention mounted thereon.Said shuttle car may be of a well known form and comprises generallyan'elongated chassis having a pair of vertical, laterally spaced sideWalls II, I I extending for the full length of the vehicle and formingthe side walls of a coal carrying compartment thereof.

An endless chain and ight conveyor indicated generally at I4 extendsalong the vehicle for its full length and forms the bottom of the coalcarrying compartment thereof and serves to progress coal towards thedischarge or front end of the vehicle during loading and to mechanicallyunload the vehicle from its discharge end, in the usual manner. Anoperators platform I5 bearing the usual vehicle control devicesincluding a steering wheel I6, is provided at the left-hand forwardcorner of the vehicle outside of one of the upright side walls II, asshown in Figure 1.

The vehicle has two front rubber tired steering wheels Il, I1 near itsfront end and two rear rubber tired driving and steering wheels I8, I8near its rear end and driven from electric motors I9, I9. The drive tosaid Iwheels from said motors and the supporting and steering mountingsfor the vehicle frame on said front and rear wheels are no part of mypresent invention so need not here be shown or described further.

A cable reel indicated generally by reference character 20 is providedat the opposite side of the vehicle from the operators platform I5,between the front and rear wheels I1 and I8. Said cable reel has anelectric cable 2 I, which is adapted to be wound thereon or be payed 01Ttherefrom in the usual manner and to be attached at its free endto asource of power, such as a junction box, for supplying electric power tothe vehicle.

IThe cable 2I is trained from the reel 2|] through a spooler carriageindicated generally by reference character 23 for moving the cable backand forth along the reel as it is wound thereon, to assure that thecable be wound on its reel in even layers. From said spooler carriagethe cable passes along the inside of a guide sheave 24 mounted on abracket 25 on a vertical pin 26. Said bracket 25 is secured to an outerside of the side wall II beneath a cover plate for said reel and extendsoutwardly therefrom. From said sheave said cable passes through a guidesleeve 21 mounted on said bracket in advance of said sheave and inalignment with the groove thereof.

Said cable then passes to and around a guide sheave 29 lwhen it istrained towards the rear of the vehicle. Said guide sheave is of arelatively large diameter and is mounted on the outer end of ahorizontally swingabie arm 38 pivotally mounted at its inner end on theouter side of a side wall i l of the shuttle car and extending outwardlytherefrom. Said arm Sii is of a bifurcated construction and extendsalong the top and bottom sides of said sheave `and is pvotally mountedat its inner end on a vertical shaft 3i mounted in spaced bosses 32, 32extending outwardly from a bracket t3 secured to and extending outwardlyfrom the side wall i l. Said arm, as herein shown, rests on the tops ofsaid bosses. The sheave 29 is journaled on the outer end of said armbetween the urcations thereof, on a pivotal pin 34. Y

A cable guiding arm 35 is pivotally mounted on the upper and lower endsof the pin 34 and serves to Vhold the cable 2l in engagement with thesheave 23 and to move the arm 3i) inwardly towards the side wall l oroutwardly therefrom,

depending upon whether said cable extends from diameter of the sheaves29 in all positions of said arm with respect to said sheave, to maintainthe cable 2l in engagement with said sheave when extending laterally orforwardly or rearwardly from the vehicle. An upper portion 4l of saidcable guiding arm is mounted on the upper end of said pin and is securedat its outer end to the upper portion of said clamping member by meansof a pin 42. l

An angle i3 secured to and projecting upwardly from a top cover i4extending outwardly from Athe side wall ll, serves as a stop to limitmovement of said arm 3S in an outward direction, A stop lli extendingforwardly and angularly inwardly from said arm is adapted to engage thecable guiding arm 35 and limit movement of said arm in acounter-clockwise direction into sucha position that the cable will notfreely pass through the guide sleeve 39 when trained beyond the forwardor discharge endof the vehicle.

l't should here be understood that the junction box to which the end ofthe cable is connected is usually mounted on the minev wall and isspaced laterally from the path of travel of the vehicle. As the vehiclepasses said junction box, and changes from being trained off the rearend of the vehicle to the forward end of the vehicle, the reaction ofthe cable on the cable guiding arm 35 will pivot said arm in acounterclockwise direction and will swing the arm 3l! to the positionshown by broken lines in Figure 3, and when in this position, the guidesleeve 3S will adapt itself to a position substantially in alignmentwith the guide sleeve 2l' and guide the cable along the inside of thesheave 27S to be payed oi of or wound in directly from thefront of thevehicle. When the vehicle again passes said junction box and changesfrom being payed ofi of orvwound infrom the front of the vehicle tobeing` payed on of or wound in from the rear of the vehicle,

lsaid sheave and having the pull of the cable on the sheave 29 held inengagement therewith by the guide sleeve 39, will pivot the arm 39outwardly until it engages the stop 43, to position the cable to extendalong the outer side of the vehicle in a position where it will be freefrom obstructions on the vehicle.

It may be seen from the foregoing that a simple and efficient form ofcable guide vhas been provided for the power cable of a shuttle car,which is readily adaptable to guide and hold said power cable away fromthe car and the ground in the immediate Vicinity of the car as the carmoves towards and from and passes the junction box to which the free endof the cable is connected, as the direction in which the cable extendsfrom the car changes so the cable is trained from the rear instead offorward end of the car, and vice versa, and as the cable extendslaterally from the car during this change in direction, and that thisguide is so arranged as to avoid fouling of the cable on the car or theground with the resultant breakage thereof.

While I have herein shown and described one form in which my inventionmay be embodied, it will be understood that the construction thereof andthe arrangement of the various parts may be altered without departingfrom the spirit and scope thereof. Furthermore, I do not wish to beconstrued as limiting my invention to the specic embodiment illustrated,excepting as it may be limited in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

l. A cable guide particularly adapted to guide an electric cable forsupplying power to a moving lvehicle and attached at its end to a sourceof power at a xed point and payed off or wound on a reel on the vehicle,as the vehicle moves lpast said xed point, a swingable arm mounted onthe vehicle for pivotal movement about a vertical axis, a sheavejournaled on the end of said arm for arcuate movement about saidvertical axis said sheave rotating in a substantially horizontal planeabout its own axis, and a cable guiding arm mounted on the first saidarm for pivotal movement about the axis of rotation of said cable guidedtherem for holding said cable in engagement with lsaid sheave when saidvehicle is moving towards or from said nxed point, said cable swingingsaid cable guiding arm and sheave and said first mentioned arm in anoutwardly extended position with respect to said vehicle to train saidcable around said sheave and for moving said sheave and said firstmentioned arm inwardly towards the vehicle and guiding said cable alongone side of said sheave depending on the location of the xed point ofthe said cable with respect to said vehicle and said cable guiding armholding said cable away from the vehicle in alll positions of saidVehicle with respect to said fixed point.

2. A cable guide particularly adapted to guide an electric cable forsupplying power to a moving; vehicle and attached at its end to a fixedpoint and payed off of or wound on a reel on the vehicle, as the vehiclemoves past said fixed point, a swingable arm mounted on the vehicle forpivotal movement' about a vertical axis, a sheave journaled on the endof said arm for arcuate movement about said vertical axis for rotationin a substantially horizontal plane about its own axis, a cable guidingarm mounted on the first mentioned arm for pivotal movement about theaxis of rotation of said sheave and having a cable guide on its outerend for holding-said cable in engagement with said sheave `in allpositions of saidarm with respect to said sheave, said cable swinging-said cable guiding arm and sheave and first mentioned arm in ahorizontal plane to an outwardly extended .position with respect to saidvehicle, training said cable around said sheave as the vehicle movestowards said fixed point in one direction and to lInove said sheave andiirst mentionedl arm in- `and said cable guiding arm holding said cable.away fromvthe vehicle in all positions ofisaid vehicle with respect tosaid fixedpointg 3. A cable guide particularly adapted to guide anelectric cable for supplying power vto a moving vehicle and attachedatits end to-aixed point and payed off of or wound on a r el on thevehicle, as the vehicle moves past said fixed point, a swingable armmounted on the vehicle for pivotal movement about a Verticali'axia-asheave journaled on .the end of said arm for arcuate movement about saidvertical axis and for rotation in a substantially horiozntal plane aboutits own axis, a cable guiding arm mounted on the first mentioned arm forpivotal movement about the axis of rotation of said sheave and having acable guiding sleeve on its outer end spaced from and in alignment withsaid sheave in all positions of said cable guiding arm with respect tosaid sheave, and adapted to have said cable pass therethrough and holdsaid cable away from obstructions on the ground and said car andmaintain said cable in engagement with said sheave as said cable istrained from the front or the rear of said vehicle, and as. it extendsoutwardly frorn said vehicle as it passes said fixed point.

4. A cable guide for an electric cable adapted to supply power to aself-propelled vehicle operable in mines and connected at its free endto a source of power at a fixed point in the mine,

comprising in combination a cable reel mounted on the vehicle and havingsaid cable wound thereon, a swingable arm mounted on the vehicle forpivotal movement about a vertical axis including a mounting `bracketpositioned near one end of the vehicle, a guide sheave mounted on theouter end of said arm for arcuate movement about said vertical axis androtation about its own axis, a cable guiding arm pivotally mounted onsaid first mentioned swingable arm for movement about the axis of saidsheave and having a cable guiding member on its outer end for guidingthe cable around said sheave when the first mentioned arm is in anoutwardly extended position and for guiding the cable along one side ofsaid sheave when said swingable arm is in an inwardly extended positionwith respect to the vehicle and for holding said cable away from thevehicle in all positions of the vehicle with respect to said xed point.

5. A cable guide for an electric cable adapted to supply power to aself-propelled vehicle operable in mines and connected at its free endto a source of power at a xed point in the mine, comprising incombination a cable reel mounted on the vehicle and having said cablewound thereon, a guide sheave for guiding said cable from said cablereel, a swingable arm spaced from said sheave towards one end of thevehicle, a bracket for mounting the inner end of said l arm on thevehicle for pivotal movement about a vertical axis, a guide sheavemounted on the outer end of said arm for arcuate movement about saidvetical axis and rotation about its own axis, a cable guiding armpivotally mounted on the rst mentioned swingable arm for movement aboutthe axis of said sheave and having a cable guiding sleeve on its outerend positioned so its extended axis is tangent to the mean diameter ofsaid sheave and having said cable extending therethrough, for guidingsaid cable around said sheave when said rst mentioned arm is in anoutwardly extended position and for guiding said cableA along one sideof said sheave and moving said rst mentioned swingable arm inwardly`towards the Vvehicle moves in an opposite direction and passes saidiixed point for holding said cable away from the vehicle in allpositions of vthe vehicle with respect to said fixed point.

6. A cable guide for an electric cable adapted to vsupply power to .aself-propelled vehicle operable in `mines'and connected at. its free endtoasource of power at a iixed point in the mine comprising inlcombination a cable reel mounted on the vehicle and having said cablemounted thereon, a swinging arm near one end of the vehicle, attached tothe body of said vehicle at its inner end for pivotal movement in ahorizontal plane about a vertical axis, a guide sheave mounted on saidswingable arm for rotational movement about its own axis and for arcuatemovement about the axis of said swinging arm, a cable guiding armmounted on said swinging arm for pivotal movement about the axis ofrotation of said sheave and having a cable guiding sleeve on its outerend spaced from and in alignment with said sheave in all positions ofsaid cable guiding arm with respect to said sheave, and adapted to havesaid cable pass through said sleeve so as to prevent fouling of saidcable on said vehicle orv other obstructions, and to maintain said cablein engagement with said sheave as said cable is trained from the frontor the rear of said vehicle, a stop mounted on said swinging arm forlimiting the pivotal movement of said cable guiding arm as said cablemoves the swinging arm, guiding arm, and sheave inwardly toward thevehicle, and an additional stop mounted on the body of said vehicle tolimit the forward arcuate movement of said swinging arm as it is movedby the cable to swing said sheave and cable guide arm outwardly from thebody of said vehicle.

7. In a mine vehicle adapted to be supplied with power from a relativelyxed point and adapted to move with respect to said relatively fixedpoint, a power cable for supplying power to said mine vehicle, a cablereel for storing cable or paying off cable in accordance with themovement of said mine vehicle, a swingable arm mounted on said vehiclefor movement about a vertical axis, a sheave, for guiding said cable,journaled on said arm for arcuate movement about said vertical axis, acable guiding arm having a guide for said cable mounted at one endthereof for swinging movement with respect to said first arm, said cableswinging said cable guiding arm and the rst said swingable arm in anoutwardly extended position with respect to said vehicle to train saidcable around said sheave, and said cable swinging said cable guiding armand the rst said swingable arm inwardly toward the vehicle and guidingsaid cable along one side of said sheave according to the location ofsaid xed point with respect to said c27 vehicle, and said cable guidingarm holding said cable away from said vehicle in all positions of saidvehicle with respect to said fixed point.

8. In a mine vehicle adapted to be supplied with' power from arelatively xed point and adapted to move with respect to said relativelyxed point, a power cable for supplying power to said mine Vehicle, acable reel for storing cable or paying off cable in accordance with themovement of said mine vehicle, a swingable arm mounted on said vehiclefor movement about a vertical axis, a sheave for guiding said cablejournaled on said arm for arcuate movement about said vertical aXis, acable guiding arm having a guide for said cable mounted at one' endthereof for swinging movement with respect to said rst arm, said cableswinging said cable guiding arm and the rst said swingable arm in anoutwardly extended position with respect to said vehicle to train saidcable around said sheave, and said cable swinging said cable guiding armand the first said swingable arm inwardly toward the vehicle and guidingsaid cable along one side of said sheave according to the location ofsaid Xed point with respect to said Vehicle, and said cable guiding armholding said 8 cable away from said vehicle in all positions of saidvehicle with respect to said xed point, and a stop mounted on saidswinging arm for limiting' the swinging movement of said cable guidingarm as said cable moves said swinging arm and said guiding arm and saidsheave inwardly toward the vehicle and. an additional stop mounted onthe body of said vehicle to limit forward arcuate movement-of saidswinging arm as it is moved by the cable .to swing said sheave and saidcable guiding arm outwardly from the body of the vehicle.

WILLIAM R. BECK.

RFRENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of thispatent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,359,123 Krapf Sept. 26, 1944FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 154,832 Germany 7,. Sept. 26, 1904Certificate of Correction Patent No. 2,562,886 Augst 7, 1951 WILLIAM R.BECK It is hereby certified that error appears in the printedspecification of the above numbered patent requiring correction asfollows:

Column y6, line 16, after Vehicle insert 'when the vehicle;

and that the said Letters Patent should be read as corrected above, sothat the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Oice.Signed and sealed this 25th day of December, A. D. 1951.

THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant 'ommz'ssz'oner of Patents.

